Regional Projects - October 2013

By: Regional Projects Coordinator, Daniela Gambotto...

Street Lighting and Sustainability

This last month we have been targeting our street lighting efforts at the executive level of Ergon Energy. The communication has been a little back and forth so far, but we seem to have finally reached a point where both parties have agreed to work together so we can move this matter forward.

Following Darlene's attendance at the LGMA conference where the Minister for Local Government, David Crisafulli, gave a presentation about how the Department can help Local Governments, we thought it was a good idea to let him know about our street lighting project. We decided it couldn't hurt to raise the matter with relevant politicians in the hope they might be able to support or encourage our efforts. We'll see where this leads us.

I have also entered into discussion with the Far North Office of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR). Given that DTMR are also clients of Ergon Energy's street lighting services, we thought it might be useful to find out if they have any kind of agreement in place regarding service levels. As it turns out, they are in the same position as Local Government and are keen to work with us to try and implement a Service Level Agreement (SLA).

And, we have finally set a date for a meeting with Ergon Energy's Meter Strategy Manager and Line Maintenance contractors. Hopefully by the time you are reading this newsletter, we should be in the thick of discussions pushing forward our call for an SLA for the region's street lights, and thus the move towards more energy and cost efficient street lights across the region.

Regional Events

After contemplating ways to trigger a regional response to sponsorship requests for cross regional events, I discovered the Local Government (Finance, Plans and Reporting) Regulation 2010 has a provision for Councils to have their own Community Grants Policies. As each Council in the FNQROC region has some form of Community Grants Policy, this is the most logical location for a regional cross Council (regional) events clause.

We have also been discussing/investigating:

a. the possibility of single contractual arrangement for events which cross two or more Council boundaries. This would put all Councils on an even footing when it comes to sponsorship requests and ensure a greater return on investment for the region. This could similarly be addressed under the Community Grants policies previously mentioned. Wording for both these issues have been drafted and will be presented at next week's FNQROC Board meeting for the Board's consideration.

b. best practice / minimum standard guidelines for events held in the region. As we become a mecca for a number and variety of community events, we want to ensure those visiting the region do not leave with a substandard impression due to lack of services provided by event organisers (particularly those not as experienced as Iron Man, Cycle Qld etc.) This guide could be used by Councils to aid in ensuring events held within their Council area meet expectations of participants and create a consistent standard of service across the region.